In the Pale Moonlight (episode)
Sick of the losses the Federation is taking in the war, Sisko enlists Garak's help to persuade the Romulans to join the Federation against the Dominion. Sisko soon learns that in order to save the Federation, he must abandon the values it stands for. Summary Captain Benjamin Sisko is recording a log entry and begins by discussing his dreaded weekly posting of the Federation casualty report, listing the dead, wounded, and missing for that week. This particular week, Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax discovers that a longtime friend, Leslie Wong, was lost with all hands on board the [[USS Cairo|USS Cairo]]. The Cairo was ambushed by a Dominion patrol that passed through Romulan space, a common occurrence, because the Romulans have a non-aggression pact with the Dominion. At this point, Sisko decides he is going to bring the Romulans into the war. Initially, this objective seems unattainable, as it is clearly in the Romulans' best interests to stay neutral. When Dax plays the Romulan devil's advocate in a mock debate, Sisko determines how to get them into the war on their side. It becomes evident that Sisko needs "solid proof" to convince the Romulans that the Dominion is planning on conquering them after they are done with the Federation Alliance. Sisko contacts Elim Garak because of his "skills" at retrieving highly secret and guarded information (namely, "secret war plans" that Sisko could use). Garak reluctantly agrees, after noting that it would involve him calling in all of his favors, and that the outing may end up being a rather "messy" business. However, Sisko is not shaken and is prepared to do anything to accomplish the goal, as noted in his log. That night, Sisko learns that the Dominion has conquered Betazed in a matter of ten hours, placing the Dominion in a strategic position to hit several key worlds (including Earth, Andor and Vulcan). This makes Sisko even more determined, and after three days, he asks Garak about his progress. Garak had spoken to several Cardassians who were willing to help, but they were all dead within a day. Garak proposes that they manufacture the evidence they need instead. Sisko is at first appalled at the thought but, as he indicates in his log, he went along because he "knew it was right". Garak proposes that Sisko invite Senator Vreenak to Deep Space 9, since he will be passing by in a few days. Vreenak negotiated the Romulan non-aggression pact with the Dominion and is an outspoken supporter of it, and has quite a low opinion of the Federation. The idea is that if Sisko can convince him to join the war, the whole Romulan Senate will follow. They formulate a plan to show him a fabricated recording of a secret, high-level Dominion meeting in which the Dominion discusses the plan to conquer the Romulans. In order to ensure that Vreenak believes it, they will use a genuine Cardassian optolythic data rod, as well as a good cover story about how Starfleet obtained it. Starfleet approves the plan. The first thing that Sisko needs to do is to get Grathon Tolar, who is an expert in holographic forgery, released from a Klingon prison. Gowron pardons him, and Sisko tells Tolar that the conditions of his release are to create a holographic program for him. Tolar realizes the nature of what he has to do when he learns that Garak is involved. Tolar agrees, as the alternative is to face execution by the Klingons. Later, a glitch tests Sisko's will to go through with the plan. Tolar gets drunk at Quark's and, in the ensuing bar fight, stabs Quark. Odo cannot release Tolar unless Quark decides not to press charges. Sisko bribes Quark into not pressing charges. Sisko agrees to compensate Quark's for his lost profits and damaged clothes as well as to let some illegal merchandise pass security. Quark loves the idea, not just because of his economic gain, but that Sisko reaffirms Quark's faith in the 98th Rule of Acquisition: "Every man has his price." As Sisko says in his log, he begins to second guess the endeavor, until he receives another casualty report. The next step in the plan is to obtain a genuine Cardassian data rod. Garak, by some "minor miracle", finds a seller of one; unfortunately, the price is quite high - 200 liters of bio-mimetic gel, a very dangerous and controlled substance. Sisko at first rejects the idea, but Garak tells him that finding another will be impossible, so Sisko reluctantly agrees to the trade, and they negotiate the quantity down to 85 liters. Doctor Bashir is appalled at the thought of having to prepare the gel, and only does so after demanding written orders, endorsed by Starfleet, and even then over his explicit objection and protest. The "team" of Sisko, Garak, and Tolar obtain the rod and begin preparing a convincing recording in which Weyoun and Damar plan the invasion of Romulus, making sure to have the two squabble with each other and appear as "real" as possible. The program is recorded onto the rod, and the forgery is complete. In order to ensure that the fake will pass (though it has already been encoded on the single-use data rod), Sisko threatens Tolar with an unpleasant execution at the hands of Gowron if the forgery is flawed. Tolar is further unnerved when Garak says he will stop by his quarters ("to say hello"). Sisko at this point is getting very nervous, as Senator Vreenak comes to the station in a cloaked Romulan shuttle. Before Sisko greets Vreenak, Garak tells him he plans to covertly inspect the Senator's ship (for anything "useful"), and leaves. Vreenak egotistically dresses down Sisko when the two meet. They discuss the fate of their respective worlds over a bottle of kali-fal, at which point Sisko tells Vreenak that he has learned that the Dominion are planning a surprise attack on the Romulans. Vreenak, naturally, demands proof, at which time Sisko presents his forgery. Vreenak demands to inspect the data rod. Vreenak, in typical Romulan fashion, takes his time inspecting the rod, during which time Sisko, as he indicates in his log, is very anxious. The fate of the entire Alpha Quadrant hangs on whether or not his forgery passes Romulan scrutiny. Sisko attempts, in vain, to calm his worries, until Vreenak finally calls Sisko to pronounce his judgment. Vreenak furiously confronts Sisko, declaring the rod to be an absolute fake, and promises to expose Starfleet's treachery and deception to the Romulan Senate, which could easily drive the Romulans to the Dominion's side, dooming the Federation for good. Fortunately for Sisko and the Federation, two days later Sisko learns that Vreenak's shuttle has conveniently exploded, killing him. Sisko quickly realizes that Garak was behind this, and he confronts Garak in his shop, with a fist to the face. Garak demands a chance to explain and outlines the actual plan... While Garak did have hopes that the rod would pass inspection, he realized that the opposite was very likely, that the forgery may well not pass Vreenak's inspection. Garak had planted a bomb on the Romulan shuttle, and he had made its destruction look like Dominion sabotage. To the Tal Shiar it will appear that the Dominion destroyed the shuttle. And in the wreckage they will find a badly-damaged data rod containing damning evidence that the Dominion was going to betray the Romulans, the damage to the rod masking the imperfections in the forgery. It will appear that Vreenak was on his way to expose the Dominion before being blown up. As for Tolar, the forger, Garak describes him as a "casualty of war". In other words, he eliminated him. Sisko is quite furious, and berates Garak, before realizing the real plan, although distasteful in nature, was a very good and necessary one. In fact, it succeeds. The Romulans declare war on the Dominion the next day, and all Sisko has to do now is to wrestle with his conscience. He soon justifies his actions, stating that the lives of a few innocent men, and his own self-respect, are a tiny price to pay for essentially saving the Federation, along with potentially billions of lives. He will learn to live with it, because he can live with it. After coming to terms with his actions, Sisko erases the whole log. Memorable Quotes "That was the moment I made the decision. It was like I had stepped through a door and locked it behind me. I was going to bring the Romulans into the war." : - Benjamin Sisko "If you want to guarantee that we obtain evidence of a Dominion plot to attack the Romulans, I suggest that we manufacture that evidence ourselves." : - Elim Garak "People are dying out there, every day. Entire worlds are struggling for their freedom. And here I am still worrying about the finer points of morality." : - Sisko "Who's watching Tolar?" "I've locked him in his quarters. I've also left him with the distinct impression that if he attemps to force the door open, it may explode." "I hope that's just an impression." "It's best not to dwell on such minutiae." : - Sisko and Garak "Gul Dukat is a great man." "Gul Dukat is a preening egotist and a fool." : - Bickering holographic recreations of Damar and Weyoun "So you're the commander of Deep Space 9. And the Emissary to the Prophets. Decorated combat officer, widower, father, mentor... and oh yes, the man who started the war with the Dominion. Somehow I thought you'd be taller." "Sorry to disappoint you." "To be honest, my opinion of Starfleet officers is so low, you'd have to work very hard indeed to disappoint me." : - Senator Vreenak and Sisko "It's a fake!" : - Vreenak "That's why you came to me, isn't it Captain? Because you knew I could do those things that you weren't capable of doing. Well, it worked. And you'll get what you wanted: a war between the Romulans and the Dominion. And if your conscience is bothering you, you should soothe it with the knowledge that you may have just saved the entire Alpha Quadrant, and all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal... and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer. I don't know about you, but I'd call that a bargain." : - Elim Garak "So... I lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. Garak was right about one thing, a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. So I will learn to live with it. Because I can live with it. I can live with it... Computer, erase that entire personal log." : - Sisko Background Information * In the first draft of this story, Jake Sisko discovers a dirty secret about Shakaar Edon, and Benjamin tries to stop him from publishing it. It was changed to Jake discovering his father and Garak were involved in shady dealings, but by the final draft, Jake had been removed from the script entirely. *The episode is presented in "flashback" format, where Sisko makes a log entry in his quarters. The viewer takes the perspective of the computer taking in Sisko's log as well as periodic, extended flashbacks to the events which are dictated in said log. *In a unique directorial and writing turn for the series, the audience is faced with more than just the fourth wall concept of television. Rather, the audience becomes interactive. All the while, Captain Sisko is recording a personal log regarding the events of persuading the Romulans. The series explores the complex side of values and principles and deals head-on with the perils of altruism. *The working title of this episode was Patriot *Referenced Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: #98 *It is revealed in this episode that Betazed is relatively close to Vulcan, Andoria and Tellar. It would later be revealed in Star Trek: Enterprise that all these planets are also relatively close to Earth. *Colm Meaney (Miles O'Brien) and Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) do not appear in this episode. *This is the second episode in a row in which Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs) appears as a holographic simulation. *The Romulan shuttle is the first new Romulan ship seen since the Romulan scoutship in TNG in the late 1980s. *Filming began on http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/6952/ron86.txt. *The title of the episode might be a reference to the Joker's line "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" from the 1989 Batman film. *The exchange where Vreenak expects Sisko to be taller, and Sisko replies, "Sorry to disappoint you." is a Reference to the 1982 movie Gandhi. Apocrypha *The novel Hollow Men is a followup to the events of this episode. * In a short story by Peter David, it is suggested that the Romulans uncovered Sisko's deception at an unknown point in the future, leading to open warfare between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire. The fan film series [http://mirrors.hiddenfrontier.com/download.php/605.mov Hidden Frontier] has a similar plot twist involving a young Romulan officer who was Vreenak's protegé. Links and References Guest Stars *Andrew J. Robinson as Elim Garak *Jeffrey Combs as Weyoun (hologram) *Casey Biggs as Damar (hologram) *Howard Shangraw as Grathon Tolar *Stephen McHattie as Vreenak Co-Star *Judi Durand as Station Computer Voice References 47; Andor; Betazed; bio-mimetic gel; ''Cairo'', USS; Friday; Gowron; Glintara sector; Grathon Tolar; Kalandra sector; Kali-fal; Leslie Wong; M'Pella; Neral; Obsidian Order; optolythic data rod; Orion slave girl; Romulan ale; Soukara; Tellar; Tenth Fleet External Links * Category:DS9 episodes de:In fahlem Mondlicht es:In the Pale Moonlight nl:In the Pale Moonlight